Shock win for Abbott in leadership vote

Tony Abbott is the new leader of the Liberal Party after ousting Malcolm Turnbull by just one vote in a leadership spill today.

Mr Abbott won the final vote against Malcolm Turnbull by 42 votes to 41 after challenger Joe Hockey was knocked out in an earlier vote between all three candidates.

Mr Hockey was knocked out in the first round of voting when he got 23 votes to Mr Turnbull's 26 and Mr Abbott's 35.

Julie Bishop will stay on as deputy leader, after being unopposed for her position.

Chief party whip Alex Somlyay says confirmation of Mr Abbott's win was met by the party room with a "loud round of applause".

Only 83 votes were counted in the final vote because somebody voted informally.

Fronting the media after the vote, Mr Turnbull said he he would not be resigning and there would be no by-election in Wentworth.

He said he had not decided whether to contest the next election but said he would not be returning to the frontbench.

A smiling Mr Turnbull congratulated Mr Abbott on his win.

"He has a big challenge ahead of him and I think all Australians wish him well with it," he said.

Mr Turnbull said he would not change anything he had done in the last month, but was disappointed by the result.

Mr Abbott will hold a press conference shortly.

Maverick backbencher Wilson Tuckey says the new leader offered a secret ballot on the government's emissions trading scheme and the vote to oppose it was carried by 55 votes to 29.

Mr Hockey was offering colleagues a free vote on the emissions trading scheme, but it now seems it was not enough to convince them he was the right man to take the party forward on the issue.

Mr Turnbull's 14-month reign as Liberal leader has left the party split and in tatters in the aftermath of the brawl over climate change policy.

New leader

Elected to Parliament in 1994 as the Member for Warringah, the Federal Coalition's newest leader has never been one to shy away from a position.

During an early career writing editorials for the Australian newspaper and the Bulletin magazine the Rhodes scholar and member for Warringah honed the art of crafting an opinion and fighting a case for it.

As a student at Oxford University in England he was known for his exploits in the boxing ring, where he learnt to roll with the punches and wait to deliver the knockout blow.

Against that background it is hardly surprising he emerged from a week of Liberal party-room carnage this morning as the leader of a fractious Opposition.

First he stood by and watched his leader Malcolm Turnbull accede to Labor's desire to pass an emissions trading scheme (ETS). He moved to stand as an alternative leader before stepping back to pledge support for a Joe Hockey leadership push.

He then saw Mr Hockey effectively hand the Rudd Government its ETS by promising a conscience vote on the issue.

That was one hit to the political body too many for the man known in some quarters as the 'Mad Monk,' who yesterday went on the offensive and declared he would run for the leadership regardless of who else was standing up.

This withdrawal of support for Mr Hockey reflected the overwhelming position of the Liberal party's right wing, who are staunchly committed to opposing the ETS in its current form.

It's not the first time the Howard Government Health Minister has put his hand up for the leadership of his party.

Following the 2007 election loss he famously announced that he had the people skills to lead the Coalition back towards government, before pulling out of the race to allow Brendan Nelson to take the reins.

He accepted a position as the opposition spokesman on Families, Community Services and Indigenous Affairs, but given the events of the past week he said he had to step forward.

This morning's was the tightest of leadership wins for Mr Abbott, who pipped Mr Turnbull by 42 votes to 41 in the final party-room run-off; there was one informal vote.

He has already shown his toughness and tenacity in standing up for a cause, but with a clearly divided party behind him he may have to call on a different skill set to lead his colleagues towards some semblance of unity.

Before starting his careers in journalism and politics he made a stuttering beginning to a career in the priesthood in St Patrick's Seminary in Manly.

He abandoned his path towards a career as a priest but he will surely draw on what knowledge he gleaned in order to take an unruly flock under his wing.

The new Opposition Leader lives in Forestville with wife Margaret and three daughters.